Metroid: Outcast
by Scritor Demens
Summary: Takes place after Metroid Fusion. To stop the Space Pirates from unlocking an ancient power on a long dead planet, Samus and Adam must side with some unlikely allies.
1. Federation Exile

**Prologue**

Federation Exile

_There will be some who understand…_

The words of her computerized CO Adam still playing through her head, Samus Aran piloted her sleek purple starship to the nearest hypernav buoy. She wasn't in any hurry to get back to Federation Command. In fact, the longer she could put off the inevitable conflict with her employers, the better. Samus had taken on legions of Space Pirates, intergalactic beasts, and mutant spawn, but she was simply shaking in her Fusion Suit at the thought of facing down the dreaded bureaucrats. After crashing their pet space station into the planet SR- 388, the somewhat rebellious bounty hunter had never been in so much trouble in her life.

_They're going to penalize me into the next decacycle… Ah, but if I had let them take control of BSL again, the SA-X would have enslaved the galaxy…_

The SA-X, a carbon copy of Samus at her peak potential created by the evil X Parasites, had been the leader of the X-Parasite infestation of the Biologic Space Labs station. Asexual reproduction had multiplied the X to vast numbers, so Samus's only choice had been to set the space station on a collision course for the X-infested planet SR-388, thus destroying both planet and station.

Samus looked out the window, glancing back at the still-expanding cloud of molten dust and debris that had once been the planet. Following her gaze, Adam contributed a wise remark to break her inner monologue.

"You just can't resist blowing things up, can you, Lady?"

"Shut up, Adam. I should have pulled your plug a long time ago."

"But then who would be around to pilot the ship while you're sleeping? Surely you don't want to crash into an asteroid. Again. See, if you had a wonderful computer like me before the whole X incedent, you'd still have your Hunter gunship…"

Adam's monitor lit up a light brown, representing a smirk.

"Yes, and I wouldn't have to put up with you _or_ this hunk of scrap the idiot Feds call a ship."

"Ooh, touché, Lady, touché. Anyhow, exchanges of insults aside, you have an incoming transmission from the 'Idiot Feds.' I'm sure it's about the BSL…"

Samus grimaced. Time to face her fate.

The multi-chinned face of Threllus Felge, a prominent (speaking in terms of both political power and the size of his enormous stomach) Federation executive, appeared on Samus's holo screen. His fat lips were curled in a most unpleasant frown, his beady eyes blinking repeatedly as he stared at Samus.

"We at Federation Command are very disappointed in you, Hunter Aran. You disobeyed a direct order, destroyed Federation property, and wiped out a planet. Think of the discoveries that you have denied the Federation's people…" The man's voice was practically dripping with feigned sorrow.

"I am sorry, Chancellor Felge," Samus began with a grimace, "I respect your fair and noble ambitions, but I made a judgement that, given hindsight, now seems wrong to me as well. I was sure that the entirely competent Federation security forces would have been able to handle the SA-X. I should have trusted you more."

Both Samus and Adam were aware that the entirety of what Samus had just said was complete bullshit, and it had almost made her vomit all over her visor to say it. She had been able to keep a straight voice, but not a straight face… it was lucky she was wearing a helmet.

"Samus…" Felge continued, "I'm sure you have your regrets, and I feel for you…" Samus nearly vomited again. She was not the only one spewing hot gas. She doubted that Felge could feel for his own mother. "However, the others at Federation Command have ruled that you are to be punished. You will be exiled from Federation territory, and if you return, you shall be fired upon. Adam…." Felge now spoke to the computer. "We have been informed of your role as well. You are to accompany Samus on her exile. Samus, you may keep the ship… consider it a parting gift."

Felge's face dissapeared from the monitor.

Samus sighed. Another enemy. Things were going to be very interesting from now on.

The lavender starship fired its thrusters and lazily curved off course, heading out of Federation territory and off to the shadier parts of the galaxy.


	2. Galactic Slum

**Chapter 1**

Galactic Slum

"Samus, we're now approaching Planet Vweilu… Samus… Wake up…"

Samus woke groggily. "I was taking a nap, you stupid machine… Wake me up again, and I'll turn your circuitboard into Space Pirate emergency rations…" She yawned, then closed her eyes again. "Wake me up when we crash into the planet."

"Er, Samus… Crashing is a bad idea… SAMUS! WAKE UP! …. Damn these humans and their sleep cycles…"

"Alright, alright, fine… Planet Vweilu, huh? Jeez, why did we come to this backwater cesspool?"

"Because thanks to your incessant urges to destroy things, we've been banished from Federation space. Would you rather go into Space Pirate territory?"

"I could use a couple pirates to take out my anger on right now…" Samus's eyes glazed as she slipped into daydreams, undoubtedly, Adam mused, about turning Space Pirates into tiny, unrecognizable blobs using her Plasma Beam. She was probably assigning the name "Adam" to one she was going to kill particularly painfully.

"Samus, I'm sorry to interrupt your morbid pirate-related fantasies, but we're coming up on the planet. You might want to go get into your suit…"

Samus realized she was still sporting only the blue pilot's uniform she wore under her suit- she usually took the uncomfortable battlesuit off when she was sleeping, at least when there weren't enemies around. "Oh, right. I'll go get ready to blast some space scum… Wouldn't want them to steal the ship."

"Don't blast anything just yet. Remember, these aren't Space Pirates. Ask questions, _then_ shoot. Not the other way around."

"You sound like a worried old Chozo. Just don't crash the ship."

At the sight of the dangerous-looking Federation-designed starship slowly gliding to a halt inside a shoddily erected space garage, the local residents of Vweilu instantly seemed skittish and on guard, some hiding, some drawing weapons, others pulling out communicators and talking into them frantically. A motely assortment of beings greeted Samus as she stepped out of the starship. There were humans, of course, some N'Kren, and one or two Chozo, as well as other assorted races of the galaxy. She thought she even saw a few Space Pirates.

A flustered-looking human, most likely the garage proprietor, stepped forward, eyeing Samus's Arm Cannon nervously. He was obviously used to seeing weapons in a lawless zone such as this, but the Arm Cannon was new, and not in the least friendly-looking. The timid-looking man forced his eyes off of her odd weapon and hesitantly fixed themselves on her visor.

"W-w-welcome to Ferless Space Garage, Miss…" he stared down at his tiny hand-computer, "Exeter. Miss Exeter, is there anything that we can do for you?"

Samus had not used her real name- it was a good idea not to in a place like this.

"Yeah. Refuel the ship. I also need to reload its weapons… Do you carry Forcion X-J impact missiles?"

The small man grimaced, and his eyes flicked over the ship. She detected a glint in his eye. He would undoubtedly try to steal it. Samus smiled. They would never get past Adam's security systems. That she wouldn't mind watching- Adam versus the Space Hooligans. That computer needed a workout anyway; he was getting complacent.

"Yes, ma'am, we do carry Forcions… We will get to work on your ship right away. Do you want a defrag and memory wipe on the system computers?"

Samus almost laughed. "No, that'll be fine. I need a room, too."

"Very well." The man handed her a keycard. "The Starlifter Inn, just outside of this space garage and down the street. Room 289."

"Thanks."

Samus walked to the exit of the garage and looked around outside. The first thing she noticed was that everything on this planet seemed to be either brown or grey. The streets were a gloomy grey. The few airspeeders she saw zooming by were brown. The buildings were brown with spots of grey where the paint had peeled off. Her inn was a ramshackle looking place with a neon light sign hanging haphazardly off the building. The neon bulbs were probably meant to be some exciting color. They had so much dust on them that they were brown.

The second thing she noticed was that the residents were keeping well away from her. This was to be expected, considering that she was in full battle armor and carrying a dangerous-looking weapon. On top of that, full battle armor that wasn't covered in dust. _That must be very rare on this planet,_ she mused. She didn't risk taking her suit off, however. She'd rather take the chance of causing mass panic and chaos then expose her face and lower her defences in such a backwater slum.

Not that there weren't other dangerous characters prowling the streets. Others walked by carrying weapons in plain site, from plasma throwers to quantum assault cannons. She even saw a rather large and well-built alien walk by covered head-to-toe in armor and carrying what looked like a rocket launch system designed for a ship. Some Space Pirates walking by gave Samus a hostile look and one looked ready to attack her, but another held him back with a shake of the head and some whispered commands.

Samus was not welcome here, that much was evident.

"Samus! Wait!"

Adam's comm drone flew out of an alley behind her, almost bowling into a somewhat confused-looking Chozo and haphazardly careening toward Samus. "You think you can leave me behind, do you? I don't trust you to be alone for even a night without you starting a war or something."

"Did fine without you for years."

"And in that time, you destroyed 2 planets, nearly wiped out one alien species, completely wiped out another, and became the mortal enemy of no less than 3 hostile galactic factions."

"A good portion of that I did recently. With your help."

"Just don't leave like that again. They tried to steal the ship. I had to use the security measures. Which I must admit, was rather fun. Calling in that favor with the Luminoth to have them give us a Quad was an excellent idea, by the way."

Adam tapped into her visor display unit and sent her a videoclip of the odd little garage owner running out of her ship screaming, being chased by a Quad in vortex spin mode. She laughed.

_I may not be welcomed by most people, here or in any other part of the galaxy_, she thought, _but at least I have Adam. And that's more companionship than I've had for most of my life._

General Forcystus was frustrated.

Frustrated and annoyed.

Frustrated that his plans were not working out as they should, and annoyed at Supreme General Ceberus, who was making his job harder then it should be by calling all of these infernal status meetings. Planning an underground rebellion was not an easy thing, and it wasn't made much easier when his immediate superior, who unlike him was still completely loyal to the Mother Brain, was constantly calling seemingly pointless gatherings.

It was the hated meeting that was the disgruntled general's destination as he strode down the metal-clad hallway, swift and businesslike. Tall and broad-shouldered, Forcystus's appearance radiated power. He wore standard Space Pirate general's uniform, grey chest armor and a flowing silver cape emblazoned with his general's crest, a blue chevron. He carried no ranged weapon, only an energy scythe, following the guidelines of what was proper for a general to carry on non-combat business.

"Glory to the Space Pirates, General Forcystus."

Forcystus glanced to his left, locating the speaker immediately.

"And death to all who oppose us, General Xanatos."

Xanatos, a somewhat younger general, was a less imposing figure than Forcystus. He wore a similar uniform, but the crest on his cape was a green delta. Forcystus suspected that the less experienced Xanatos looked up to him and considered him a role model.

_If he knew what I was planning,_ Forcystus thought, _what would he think of me?_

"General Forcystus, what do you suppose this meeting concerns? Do you think the Supreme General has made a breakthrough on the Omicron project?"

"I believe he has." _And that is what I'm worried about,_ Forcystus added inwardly. _I cannot allow that project to succeed._

With that, they came to the doors of the War Room, and stepped inside.

"General Forcystus. General Xanatos. Have a seat. General Dreythiss arrived some time ago, so I, Supreme General Ceberus of the Space Pirate Conglomerate, call this special meeting of the Space Pirate Generals to order."

Forcystus nodded respectfully to General Dreythiss and General Ceberus. Dreythiss returned the nod. Ceberus ignored him.

General Dreythiss was the only female of the Space Pirate Generals. Her physique was sleek and deadly, and Forcystus knew she was a force to be reckoned with. Her skills with an energy scythe were legend among the Pirates. He considered this a definite threat, especially because she still seemed completely loyal to Mother Brain. The crest on her cape was a violet four-pointed star.

Ah, Ceberus. How he loathed the egotistical scumspawn. His crest, a red X, was emblazoned on a gold cape instead of a silver one, signifying the fact that Ceberus was the supreme military officer of the entire Pirate Conglomerate. He made sure everyone remembered that. Constantly giving orders, Ceberus considered the lives of his suboordinants unimportant, as long as his will was carried out. This made Ceberus very dangerous to Forcystus's plans. What made him truly dangerous was that, egotisical as he was, this Pirate was intelligent. And intelligence in one's enemies is very hazardous, especially when one is trying to work behind their backs.

"I have called this meeting, Generals of the Glorious Space Pirates, to report on a very… interesting development in the Omicron project," Ceberus began. "Recon Team Gotha has recently discovered the site of the Seal. General Dreythiss, I believe you are overseeing the Research and Development aspects of this operation, correct?"

"That is correct, Supreme General," Dreythiss replied. Her voice had the texture of poisoned silk.

"I want scans of the Seal to begin immediately. We must have information about the technology used to make the Seal if we are to break it. General Xanatos, you are in command of military deployment during this operation. Begin a troop deployment to the area immediately, and begin construction on a secure base around the perimeter of the Seal, as I am sure that we can expect resistance from the Federation and the hated Hunter fairly soon. This mission must not fail."

"If I may, Supreme General, I have information concerning the Hunter."

"Ah, yes, Forcystus, my Special Operations General. Your commandos are deployed in the area, I assume?"

"That is correct. More importantly, however, I have received an interesting report from my spies in the Federation. The Hunter has been outlawed from Federation territory, on the grounds of the Biologic Space Labs incident. I don't think we can expect any resistance from her."

"Most excellent. Without the Hunter, the Federation has no chance of stopping us. That is all, Generals. You have your orders. Glory to the Space Pirates!" Ceberus cried.

"And death to all who oppose us!" the generals chanted as one voice.

Forcystus was the first to exit the room. As he stepped outside the door, he was immediately flanked by two Space Pirates in Commando uniform, his second and third in command.

"Lieutenant Sephiter."

"Yes, General Forcystus?"

"Ready my ship. We have work to do."

"Affirmative, General."

Forcytstus smiled. The Hunter _would _interfere in this operation. He, General Forcystus, would make it so.


	3. Messenger of the Forgotten

**Chapter 2**

Messenger of the Forgotten

Samus awoke from the best sleep she had slept in a very long time. The inn was run down, sure. There was a hole in her wall and bugs in the ventilation aperatures. Her bed smelled like a failed Phazon infusion experiment. But at least it was a bed, and not a stiff and uncomfortable starship command seat or a temporary shelter exposed to the scorchingly icy winds of some God-forsaken planetary wasteland.

She had taken her suit off even on this dangerous planet, out of trust for Adam's surveillance systems. Sure enough, there the comm drone was, plugged into the recharge outlet in stanby mode, his passive sensors constantly scanning every inch of the room for the slightest air vibration, color shift, energy spike- anything that would pose a threat to Samus. Undoubtedly, he had just registered the fact that she had awakened.

This theory was proven true as the lights on the communications drone brightened and the servomotors and antigrav jets came to life with a hiss and a whir.

"Good morning, Samus. I hope you slept well?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks," Samus said, surprised by his kind tone.

"Good, because you'd better get your suit on in the next 30 seconds. There's a bioform who's walking quite quickly toward your door, and it seems that he's carrying a weapon of some kind."

"Jeez, Adam, thanks for the advance warning." She sighed with exasperation. _There's always something after me, isn't there? _Hurriedly pulling her battlesuit on, she felt the familiar tingling as the suit's neural network integrated with her own. It molded itself to her body like a second skin, becoming a part of her, allowing her to control every aspect of the suit from the computer to the Screw Attack the same way she would move an arm or a leg or breathe. As she slipped her hand into the Arm Cannon, the hand itself became irrelevant, forgotten. The nerves in her arm simply controlled the weapon instead. This was Samus's trump card, that which made her suit superior to any other weapon.

Total and complete versatility and control.

She suddenly heard the old iron door open with the creak and squeal of old machinery. As she stepped out into the open, she saw her visitor step into her small hotel room. He was an alien of some sort, unlike any she had ever seen. He was tall, sleek, and reptillian, with onyx-colored scaly skin and a long, gently curved snout. His tail seemed to have a mind of its own, dancing around behind him as he stepped forward. He was carrying a curious weapon, a long staff with a saber-like blade on the end. _A glaive_, she thought. _If I remember correctly, that's what the Chozo called that thing. Looks dangerous. _

"Hhhunter Aran. I am Tsyr'llrash of the V'lla, and I would sssspeak with you."

The Space Pirate hangar on Zerynthus was busy at night. Operatives, scientists, and military types all needed transportation to and from the multitude of Space Pirate missions and dealings happening throughout the galaxy, and the harsh climate of the planet and its proximity to its star delegated that to go anywhere near the surface in the daytime was suicide. The crowded hangar was a bonus for Forcystus. He did not want to draw attention to himself, and nothing hid one like a bustling crowd of Space Pirates rushing to their missions. Especially since he had shed his ceremonial general's wear and now wore only a simple commando's armorsuit emblazoned with his logo, his rank ensignia on his shoulder the only indication of his importance.

His black, bladelike, and unquestionably deadly, his gunship waited for him in the center of the hangar. Two sharp, thin, curved wings swept back from the rear of the ship to end in a pair of barbed points. A long, slender fuselage connected them to a keen and arrowlike frontal cockpit. All of this gave the craft the look of a double-bladed battleaxe. Surrounding it were several troop carriers, transports for his commando force. As he approached the boardiing ramp of his ship, the hatch slid open with a sharp hiss that added to the ship's aura of shadowy danger. An intimidating vessel for a profession that was centered on intimidation. He stepped inside with a smile.

"Lieutenant Sephiter, get the ship off the ground. We have no time to lose." As Forcystus ordered, his aide and pilot stepped from his side and dissapeared into the cockpit, preparing to take the ship into orbit.

"Lieutenant Wraythe." He turned to his other escort. Wraythe was a skilled Commando and was quite proficient with technology. She was a match for any top-notch hacker in Ceberus's force or even in the Federation itself. "I want Agent Umbrae on the viewscreen."

"Way ahead of you, General." Wraythe was already seated at the computer terminal, the face of Forcysts's Federation agent appearing on the screen.

"Milord Forcystus." Umbrae gave a small bow of respect. "What may I do for you?"

"I must know where the Hunter is," Forcystus replied, skipping the formalities.

"Unfortunately, we do not know where she is. The Federation lost track of her shortly after her departure. I can, however, give you the diagnostics for her ship."

"That would be appreciated."

"Certainly, General. Transmitting now." Umbrae's face disappeared from the monitor as the ship's schematics filled it.

"Standard Federation issue," Wraythe began. "Melenne Shipyards VR-96 _Vigilante_-class gunship, slight modifications, identification code 9-7X-02."

"Can you track it?" Forcystus asked.

"In a heartbeat. Accessing galactic transit logs now." Wraythe's nimble fingers flew over the keys, breaking through the Galactic Transit Authority's security in seconds. "There it is. A ship matching that description checked into a spaceport on Vweilu in the Selrey system 17 hours ago. It has not checked out since."

"Excellent." Forcystus felt the ship lift off the ground. "Sephiter," he stated as he strode into the cockpit and took his seat behind his pilot, "Set coordinates for the Selrey system."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow you to little alien bits right now. What makes you think you can come barging into my room?" Samus pointed her beam at the weapon in the strange alien's hand. "And why are you carrying that?"

"Apologiessss, Hhhunter. Pleasssse, lower your weapon. I am in sssssomethhhing offf a hhhurry…. You ssssee, the reasson I come to you isss of the hhhhighesssst priority."

Samus's Arm Cannon dropped reluctantly to her side. "Fine. What do you want?"

"I am not sssshhhure where we ssshhhould sssstart… Hhhhunter, do you know of the planet Vrassh'kor?"

"Never heard of it. Adam?"

Adam sighed. "Samus, do you know nothing? Always coming to me for your answers… 'What is this, Adam? How do I kill it, Adam? What does the big red button do, Ada-'"

"Shut up. Do you know the planet or not?"

"Yes. Vrassh'kor is a planet in the Ferenell system, not far from here. It's supposedly a dead planet; there's been no life on the place for centuries. There are some Chozo writings concerning the place."

"Before you view thosssse writingssss, Hhhunter, I believe you ssssshhhould lissssten to whhhat I hhhave to sssssay."

"Alright. Shoot."

Looking confused, Tsyr'llrash replied "Apologiesss, Hhhunter, but I do not carry a projectile weapon…"

"Talk. She means talk," Adam hurriedly put in.

Needing no further permission, Tsyr'llrash began.

"That planet, dead asssss it may be, issss my hhhomeworld. My race issss ancient, Hhhhunter. Assss ancient asss your Chozo or your Luminoth… We V'lla were at one with our planet, and were very… protective of it. You sssssee, Vrassh'kor wasss a beautiful place, with many resourcesss, and asss sssuch, we were at the hhhight of galactic technology and power…"

"A lot of good it did the planet," Adam interjected.

"Yessss, well… As for the planet's dessstruction… We ssssought a way to protect our planet. A ssssuperweapon. Our top thinkers and sssscientists needed to find a weapon that could not be sssstoped. And find it they did."

"What is it?" Samus asked.

"Sssss…. I do not know… No one hassss known of the weapon for cssssenturiessss… Thisss isss knowledge that was lossst to the agessss. But thisss is not important… What isss important isss how the planet wasss dessstroyed… You sssee, the Chozo did not approve of our meansss of protection. They felt it threatened the galaxy… The Chozo attacked ussss."

Samus was shocked. The Chozo were never ones to use force.

"We were a warlike people. Our military wasss sssssstrong. But the Chozo were ssstrong asssss well… The fight raged for many yearssss, and when it was drawing to a clossse, we were lossssing… The Chozo hhhad overpowered ussss… And asss a lassst resssort, we unleassshed the weapon."

Samus nodded. "And?"

"The Chozo were right."


	4. Explanations

**Chapter 3**

Explanations

"The Chozo were right. You ssssee, our weapon… It turned out to be more then we could deal withhhh… Our eldersss had made it not ssso much of a weapon assss a power, a deadly forcsssse, that when unleasssshed, it overpowered not only the Chozo, but ussss asss well. All life on the planet wasss dessssstroyed. That isss why the planet issss dead."

"Figures," Samus commented.

"Then why," asked Adam, "has it not destroyed more of this galaxy? I would think that a power strong enough to wipe out a planet guarded by two ancient and wise peoples…"

"Ancient and… wisssse?" The V'lla laughed, a sound like a large volume of high-pressure gas escaping from a pipeline in a series of short bursts. "Yessss…. The Chozo perhapssss. But not ussss. We created thissss dessstructive forcssse, and we could not control it… As for your quessstion, odd computerized being…"

"Adam," Samus said. "Remember that name, as he will most likely piss you off quite a few times before we're done here."

"Pissssss… me off?"

"Make you angry," Adam hurriedly explained.

"Ahhh. Yessss… Well, as for your question, Adam, the containment of the power isssss the work of the Chozo. Mosssst of my people fled the planet when the power wassss unleasssshed, but the Chozo ssssstayed. They sssstayed and sssssacrificed their livesss to the Power sssso they could build a sssseal. Thissss ssseal sssstopped the Power, and it remainssss on our planet hhhholding it back to thissss day. Oddly enough," Tsyr'llrash continued with a concerned and puzzled expression, "Even the Chozo who ssssurvived after the built the ssseal did not leave… They ssstayed on the planet and died. Whether of sssstarvation from issssolation on sssuch a bare planet or from ssssome effect of the Power, we are not ssssure."

"The Chozo obviously have some obsession with sealing stuff." Samus couldn't help making a gruff remark even in a serious moment.

"The sssseal hassss been undisssturbed for many, many, yearssss… But now, sssomeone ssseeksss to disssturb it. That, Hhhunter, isss where you come in…"

"Why should I help you?" Samus began, "I'm finally getting a vacation…"

"Haha… that's what they're calling it now… Face it, Samus, they gave you the boot…"

"Shut up, Adam. Anyway, give me one good reason why I should help you."

"Other, of course, then the whole 'It will wipe out civilization as we know it' stuff. Apparently, Samus doesn't care, and she hasn't realized yet that 'civilization as we know it' includes her. Sorry, she's kind of slow when it comes to things that don't involve violence…"

"Adam, this is gonna involve violence pretty soon if you don't shut your digital trap."

"Well, Hhhhunter," Tsyr'llrash interrupted their exchange, "I believe the identity of the dissturbersss of the sssseal may have ssssome… persssonal interessst to you…"

"Who?"

"The Sssssspace Piratesssss…"

Everyone in the room could see Samus's widening grin through her helmet.

"Ummm, Samus? Are you… OK?" Adam's voice was hesitant and somewhat nervous.

"Heh heh heh… I've been waiting for a chance like this. I haven't kicked some Space Pirate ass in entirely too long of a time. I'm in."

The V'lla version of a smile dawned on the messenger's face. "Exsssscellent… When can we depart?"

"As soon as possible. This is gonna be fun…" Samus's apparent glee was starting to seriously unnerve Adam. "I'll go pack the ship and get it ready."

Adam sighed. "She has a one-track mind…"

"General, we'll be arriving at Vweilu fairly soon. I recommend you prepare yourself for the exit from D-space."

Forcystus nodded at his pilot respecfully and complied with his suggestion, but the truth was there was entirely too much on Forcystus's mind to consider run-of-the-mill ship procedure important. _The moment we arrive, the Hunter is going to open fire at us. She is not of the disposition to trust Space Pirates, and I do not blame her. We will have to use force to get her to listen. I'm playing with fire here, and if I'm not careful, the entire galaxy will want nothing more then to have me dead. _He glanced at Sephiter, calmly sitting in the pilot's seat, guiding the ship on its pre-realspace preparations, and his thoughts turned to his team. _Why do they follow me still? I have withheld no truth from them, and they know as well as I do that we are quite possibly going to our deaths. Why have they not returned to the Conglomerate?_

"Is something troubling you, General?" Sephiter's voice was concerned.

Forcystus smiled. "Nothing that should concern you, if it hasn't already. You know as well as I that we may not come out of this mission with our lives, or our honor, intact. Why do you follow me? Why does Wraythe? Why does anyone? We risk the displeasure of the Conglomerate now more than ever, and now we are willingly involving the Hunter in this. The Hunter, who is more dangerous to any Space Pirate than Ceberus ever could be."

"General, I cannot speak for the troops, but Wraythe and I have long shared your dream of seeing our race returned to honor and nobility. I cannot serve the Connglomerate under Mother Brain." A pained look crossed his face. "There is also the matter of… retribution. Father would… not approve, but I must."

Forcystus's expression was one of empathy. "Ah yes, your father… I will see that you have your vengence, Lieutenant."

"And I will follow you to the ends of the galaxy, General. Which is right about where we're going to be in a few millicycles." He held down the intercom button. "All personnel, prepare to revert to realspace. T-minus 5…. 4…. 3…. 2…. 1…."

As the countdown ended, Forcystus gripped his command chair while the ship shuddered and jolted, returning to realspace. Forcystus's stomach felt like it had just flipped over in his torso and knocked around several other internal organs in the process. It always felt like that during D-jumps.

_IAh, displacement jumps/I _Forcystus thought. I_I don't think I'll ever get used to those./I_

Displacement jumps, or D-jumps as most called them, were the chosen method of long-distance spacetravel by most space-capable beings. If the galaxy was traversed at sub-light speeds, it would be impossible to navigate the great distances that seperated star systems, so of course, the ancient people devoted themselves to finding a way to break the light barrier. Unfortunately, it had been decided long ago that the laws of physics did not permit an object to travel at the speed of light or above, so the ancients spent many years searching for a solution. The solution they chose, of course, had been the simplest. They simply built a new universe, one in which those pesky laws of physics did not apply.

The ancients had recently perfected singularity and wormhole technology, so transdimentional meddling was perfectly feasible. Creating a new dimention was not an easy thing, however, and the immense power rumored to be consumed by the 12 mammoth singularity generators the ancients used was unrivaled in any project in the history of civilization. It was said that the economy and resources of the ancients were crippled by this act, but the result was that a new universe was created, one that was close enough to ours to be reached with a basic singularity phaser that could be mounted on any capital ship class spacecraft. They called the new universe D-space, for displacement space. Apart from the ships that popped in and out of D-space occasionally, the alternate dimension was completely empty; devoid of air, water, or material of any sort. Becoming lost in D-space was not something that one aspired to accomplish.

Recent advances allowed a smaller version of the displacement phaser to be affixed to gunship-size craft like Forcystus's ship. This allowed Forcystus to roam the galaxy freely without the aid of a larger Space Pirate frigate or battleship. This was instrumental in both his role as special ops general and his plan to overthrow Ceberus. He didn't like D-jumping, but he couldn't do without it.

Forcystus peered out at the dusty brown world of Vweilu, looming ever larger in the viewport as they descended toward the space garage. Unexpectedly, he saw a pair of points of light headed away from the planet as they descended.

"General?"

"Yes, Wraythe?" Forcystus turned to his trusted technopath and right-hand Pirate as she peered into the cockpit.

"Samus's ship has left the spaceport."

"What?" Forcystus's attention turned to the two ships heading away from the planet. "Get me an ID on those ships."

"Yes, sir. Scanning now." Wraythe tapped out a few more commands on the computer interface. "One is a positive identification as Samus's gunship. The other is some sort of fightercraft, unknown design and origin."

Forcystus peered at the fighter's hologram as it showed up on-screen. It was an odd, claw-shaped craft, with five curved spines surrounding the bubble-like cockpit. A tail-like aperture stretched some distance from the rear of the ship, probably for maneuvering.

"Someone got to her before us," Forcystus stated, perfectly calmly. He turned to Wraythe. "Prepare a tracer probe."

"Yes sir."

After a short pause, Wraythe reported the tracer program had been loaded into the probe. "Alright, Sephiter," Forcystus continued, "You know what to do."

Sephiter smiled as he pulled back on the throttle lever on the instrument panel, The ship accelerated rapidly, pulling behind Samus's ship in a burst of speed, its narrow profile, dark coloring, and advanced stealth technology keeping it hidden.

"Missiles loaded, General. Preparing to fire."


	5. Hot Pursuit

**Chapter 4**

Hot Pursuit

Scanners clear… 

_Scanners clear… _

_Scanners clear…_

_Scanners detect threat_

_Proximity: 200 meters_

_Weapons status: unknown_

_Velocity: Matched_

_Trajectory: Matched_

_Profile_

_Space Pirate SI-70 _Mateus_-class Interceptor_

_Known Armaments: 8 high-caliber quantum assault cannons_

_4 missile launch tubes_

_Possibility of Hidden Armaments detected_

_Shielding: High-power energy shield, stealth shielding_

_Summary: Issued only to high-ranking Space Pirate officials_

_Threat Warning: High_

"Samus, I'm picking up something on the sensors… Space Pirate ship, _Mateus_-class. Somebody is following us. Someone important."

"What?" Samus pressed her hand to the communications panel. "Hunter to Messenger. Tsyr'llash, are you picking up anything on your sensors?"

"No… Ssssshhould I be?" Tsyr'llash's radio-distorted voice sounded concerned.

"Yeah, we're being tailed. He's got a stealth field, maybe your sensors can't see past it. OK, I'm switching control to weapons now…"

"Samus! Wait, you hothead!" Adam shut off the weapons panel as Samus reached for it. "Remember. Ask questions, _then_ shoot."

"Shut up. He's a Space Pirate, no questions needed. Manual Override."

Adam winced inwardly as he lost control over the ship's weapons. "Samus, don't fire yet. This approach is different from the normal Pirate attack methods."

"Shut UP!" Samus armed the weapons and took the firing yoke in her hands, ready to give the Pirate ship a taste of the proton turret.

"Samus…"

Samus sighed, and threw her hands in the air. "Fine."

Just then, an alarm screeched through the cabin, and Samus hurriedly glanced at the sensor screen.

_Missile Incoming.._

"Shit!" Samus grabbed the control yoke and swerved the ship to the side, watching the missle scream by mere feet away from the ship. The missile curved around again in a second attempt to hit Samus, but overcompensated and spiraled off in the direction of Vweilu's atmosphere. It would burn up on reentry.

"Can I shoot him _now_, Adam?"

"Yes, please feel free."

Samus grabbed the weapons yoke again and sent a volley of high-energy proton fire in the direction of the Pirate vessel. "You're dead now, Pirate scum…"

* * *

Forcystus watched the missile fly past Samus's ship as she swerved out of the way. "Her reflexes are not exaggerated in the rumors. Engage, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir…" Sephiter suddenly hissed out a curse and spun the ship out of the path of Samus's returning fire. "She means business."

"Return fire. Arm all missile launchers. Don't damage the ship, just hit her with a tracer."

"Yessir." Sephiter hit the throttle, kicking the black ship into a higher velocity and blasting toward Samus's vessel. Gripping the control yoke, he hit the missile launch button and sent a flurry of missiles at Samus's ship. Reacting to the new threat, Samus accelerated to match Sephiter's speed, then sent her gunship into a barell roll and a sideslip, confusing the missiles' targeting systems. As the missiles spiraled and swerved, attempting to catch up with the ship, two of them collided and exploded, triggering the other missiles in a chain reaction that created a fiery blast of clustered explosions and smoke that sprawled a black cloud over Sephiter's viewscreen. Not discouraged, Sephiter simply increased speed, shooting through the cloud of debris into clear space.

Samus's ship was nowhere to be seen.

Sephiter slammed his hand against the control board in his frustration. "Dammit! We lost her."

Wraythe's eyes suddenly widened as she gazed at her computer display. "No, we didn't."

The ship suddenly shuddered as a volley of laser bolts scoured across the hull. Several alarms went off as Wraythe fell off her chair and Forcystus clutched his chair to keep from doing the same. Sephiter clutched the control yoke and accelerated again, looking frantically at his sensors to locate Samus's gunship. She had managed to plant herself squarely on his tail, her proton cannons blazing away at their shields. _She's good,_ Sephiter mused. _If I don't do something, we're going to be space dust pretty soon. _

"Sephiter? There's an asteroid field directly ahead." Wraythe indicated the cluster of space debris as she pulled herself from the ground and sat back in her chair.

"Avoid it. We don't want to take unnecessary risks…" Forcystus's tone was cautious. He knew exactly what Sephiter was thinking about doing.

"General, I can fly that. Trust me."

"Lieutenant…"

"If we don't do something, we're going to be fried."

Forcystus sighed. "I trust you, Sephiter. Go ahead."

Sephiter nodded and applied thrust on the throttle once more, boosting the ship ahead into the dangerous space debris. Large chunks of rock flew past, dangerously close to the ship as Sephiter decreased the speed. If even one of the huge asteroids so much as grazed the ship, they were dead. Of course, that went for Samus, too.

"Do you think she will follow us?" Forcystus asked.

"I wouldn't know… She's good…" Sephiter frowned.

"Does that answer your question, Seph?" Wraythe motioned to the rear viewscreen, indicating to Sephiter that a missile was streaking towards their ship.

"I'll lose it. Hold on tight." Sephiter accelerated again, shooting past several asteroids and curving toward a big one. "There." He drew the missile after him, shooting toward the rock. At the last second, he pulled back on the yoke, looping the ship around sharply and grimacing as the G-forces from the sudden turn plastered him into his chair, sending the blood rushing from his head. His ship shot out of the path of the missile, which slammed into the asteroid, detonating against the large rock. The force and heat of the blast turned the surface of the asteroid molten on impact, the shockwaves from the blast traveling through the rock, tearing it into chunks.

Sephiter's hand clenched the control yoke as he avoided the large fragments of space rock and the molten jets of liquid asteroid that spiraled and curled around the ship, dangerously close to tearing the hull apart. He glanced back at the immense cloud of rubble and dust that was left behind by the explosion, and a plan formulated in his mind.

It was time to turn the Hunter's tactic against her.

* * *

Samus watched the asteroid explode into thousands of pieces ahead of her, and saw the Pirate ship disappear into the cloud of dust. It would seem, judging by such a sight, that she'd got them.

"Adam? Are they dead?"

"No, Samus, sorry to break it to you. There are still life signals out there. We lost their ship's signal, though… Good luck finding them."

Samus swore under her breath and accelerated into the cloud of dust, her sensors straining to see past the huge mass of space particles. As she shot out of the other end, she realized too late what she had done.

Sephiter was fixed directly behind her, with her stern firmly in his sights.

"I ssssee, hhhim, Hhhhunter…."

Suddenly, the V'lla fighter popped out from behind an asteroid, opening up in a blaze of laserfire. Bolts of energy played over the Pirate interceptor's shields. The shields turned red as they collapsed, leaving the ship open to Tsyr'llrash's attack. Laser bolts pierced one of Sephiter's engines and tore off his starboard stabilizer wing. The doomed Space Pirate vessel slowed to a crawl as it struggled to maintain its trajectory.

His weapon systems, however, were still perfectly intact.

As he fired a missile, it was clear to Samus that she could not avoid it. She simply watched as the missile came closer, heart pounding in her chest. She was sure that the projectile would quite shortly blow her ship to bits.

A few feet from her ship, the missile exploded. Samus braced herself, preparing for the vacuum of space. If she was quick, she could use her Grapple Beam to catch onto the enemy's ship.

Nothing happened.

The missile spread into a cloud of tiny particles, which proceeded to settle over the hull like a fine dust. No damage was being registered to her sensors.

"Adam? What was that?"

"I don't know. Wait… I'm picking up a system invasion."

"What?"

"They're tracer programs of some kind. Nanotechnology. They're monitoring us."

"Kill 'em."

Adam didn't answer.

"Adam?"

"Sorry, Samus, I can't do that."

* * *

"Hit confirmed, General. We're leaking air fast, though." Indicators flashed red and yellow all over the cockpit, alarms blaring in Sephiter's ears. "I can't keep the ship stable for much longer."

"That may not be our only problem, Seph." Wraythe pointed to the viewport. The ships were turning back around to finish the Pirate interceptor off. In its present state, there was no way they would survive another strafing run.

"Take us to D-Space, Lieutenant." Forcystus's voice was low and soft; calm, but concerned.

"What? General, I don't know the status of our D-drive. We took a big hit there… we don't want to be lost in D-Space, sir…"

"We're going to die if we don't jump, Lieutenant. Take us to D-Space."

Sephiter swallowed audibly and pressed his hand to the D-Space panel. The universe faded around them in a blaze of energy as they vanished to the transdimensional plane, the emptiness of D-Space appearing around them.

Shock and fear spread throughout Sephiter's mind as the D-drive sputtered and died.


	6. Aetherian Nomenclature

**Chapter 5**

Aetherian Nomenclature

"What was that, Adam?"

"I can't, Samus. I lack the capacity."

"What?"

"These tracer programs contain some of the most interesting and complex programming I've ever seen."

"And?"

"Samus, the security systems on this code were written by a genius. I can't even identify the location of the source, let alone actually break into the code."

"Dammit… We'll have to land somewhere and work it out… But where? Half the galaxy is trying to kill me."

"I can't think of anywhere… I mean, you've destroyed most of the planets you've come across… Wait."

"What?"

"We're relatively close to the Dasha system. We could land on Aether."

"Aether? … That works. Plot a course to Aether, Adam."

"Sure thing, Lady."

* * *

Forcystus, Sephiter, and Wraythe blankly stared out the forward viewport into the deep emptiness of D-Space. They'd be there for a very long time.

"Wraythe, Sephiter, I need you to assess the situation with the D-drive. Find out what's wrong with it, and fix the problem. We need to get back to Realspace."

"You're being awfully optimistic about this, General," Wraythe said, her voice carefully controlled. Forcystus could tell she was barely preventing the terror of her situation from filtering into her voice. "The statistics are drastically against us."

"And curling up and dying will do us no good," Forcystus replied, a hint of commanding force in his tone.

"That is true, General," Wraythe said, sounding somewhat chagrined. "This damage… it's going to involve external repairs. Someone will have to get in one of the vac suits and… go out into D-Space. I don't think that's been done before."

"I will do it."

Forcystus and Wraythe turned to Sephiter, surprised by his offer.

"General, if my piloting had been better, we wouldn't be here. Allow me to make up for my blunder. On top of that, I know the ship better then anyone, and we need Wraythe on the computer. We can't risk losing you in such a risky situation, sir."

The General sighed. "Very well, Sephiter. Good luck."

* * *

When the violet gunship phased back into existance above the planet of Aether, Samus didn't recognize the planet at first. Since her battle with the Ing, the Luminoth had made efforts to return the planet to the splendor of what it once was. It seemed their efforts had been successful.

The dark cloudy haze that once covered Aether was gone- the skies were clear, allowing Samus to see the beautiful planet below. The expanse that had once been the Agon Wastes was a vast, green plain. Emerald forests and shining teal oceans stretched across much of the planet. As the ship descended, Samus begun to make out the cluster of brilliant light that marked the Luminoth's major city, and at the center the luminescent and crystalline structure that was the Sanctuary Fortress, newly restored and refitted to serve the Luminoth once again.

It was here that Samus resolved to make her landing. Opening a comm channel, she spoke to the Luminoth space traffic controllers.

"This is Samus Aran, hailing the Luminoth. I am being followed, and I seek your shelter for a short time."

A Luminoth face appeared on the holoscreen. "Greetings, Honored A-ran." The Luminoth had called her that since shortly after she had restored their energy several years ago. She had never quite gotten used to it, but she accepted their hyphenated version of her name as the honoriffic that it was. They had, in a way, accepted her as part of their race. "I am Y-bre. You seek refuge? We welcome you to our fortress. Please make use of the landing platform to the rear of the fortress on the 15th level. We are transferring the entry instructions to your ship's computer now."

"Thanks for asking my permission. Jeez." Adam's voice was strangely gruff.

"Oh?" Y-bre seemed confused. "Your computer is… intelligent?"

Samus snorted. "No, not really.'"

"You're one to talk, birdbrain," Adam retorted, making an allusion to her Chozo blood.

Samus rolled her eyes. "This is my computer, Adam Malkovich. He's part of a new Federation program of uploading humans to computers, so yeah, he's sentient."

"Malkovich?" Y-bre smiled. "Any friend of A-ran deserves an honoriffic as well. How shall we hyphenate your name? M-vch?"

Adam seemed vexed for some reason. "Call me what you please. Quite frankly, I don't care a damn…"

"Ohh, you wish for us to hyphenate your _first_ name. All right, A-Dam."

Samus broke out into a fit of laughter at the way Y-bre chose to pronounce Adam's name (A-Damn) as Adam's monitor turned bright green to represent vexation. "That's fine, Y-bre. Just leave A-Dam's name the way it is," Samus said in between bouts of laughing. Apparently, Adam now had a curse word for a Luminoth name.

Y-bre was even more confused then before. "Alright… Please, begin your approach. May the Light of Aether guide your landing."

The Luminoth's face dissapeared from Samus's holoscreen as Adam took over pilotiing based on the charts he had been sent. He guided the ship toward a small point in the peak of the fortress, coming to a rest inside on a large, well-lit landing pad. As Samus stepped out of the ship followed by one of Adam's comm drones, a cadre of Luminoth warriors strode out to greet them. Dressed in ceremonial battle attire, the group looked very impressive.

"Greetings, Honored A-ran," intoned the foremost Luminoth. His manner of carrying himself and the tone of his voice led Samus to believe he was the group leader. "I am Guardian V-Syl, leader of Luminoth Cadre Ten. These are my brave warriors." V-Syl gestured to the group behind him. "This is N-Kul, my trusted assistant." The Luminoth on the far right nodded at Samus. He looked very young for a Luminoth; he was somewhat smaller in stature then the other warriors.

"N-Kul?" Samus was curious. "Relation of A-Kul?"

"Yes." N-Kul's tone was somewhat sad. Samus wondered why.

"These are R-Bel and Q-Cas, expert warriors, and M-Osk, my technician." The three Luminoth bowed respectfully.

"Honored to meet you, A-Ran," the one called Q-Cas said. "Who is your mechanized companion?" He gestured to Adam's drone.

"This," Samus said, biting back a laugh, "is A-Dam."

"Don't call me that!" Adam snapped as the Luminoth proceeded to greet him by his hyphenated name, unaware of its human phonetical meaning. They payed no attention to his outburst, and seemed rather happy he had been given a Luminoth name as well.

V-Syl cleared his throat, putting a stop to the clamor of his subordinants. "Anyhow, Honored A-Ran… Controller Y-Bre tells us you need our protection. Being followed, are you?"

"Yeah. The Space Pirates." Samus hesitated. "Although I get the feeling they aren't your average Space Pirate group. They could've killed me. Instead, they planted the ship with a tracer program."

"And your computer…" V-Syl glanced in the direction of Adam's drone. "He could not eliminate such a program?"

"No," Adam muttered, "I can't. Whoever wrote the program is too good. I can't seem to isolate the source."

"So this group of Pirates has followed you?" V-Syl nodded. "You may, of course, stay here under our protection until you have eluded them. If the entire Pirate fleet attacks, however, we will not be able to defeat them."

"Don't worry about that," Adam said. "There were no other Space Pirate escort ships or frigates in the area. On top of that, this ship was traveling using an independent D-space drive instead of being loaded aboard a larger ship. This indicates that this group is a small commando force, operating independently from any major Space Pirate operations. However, the _Mateus_-class interceptor is a fairly rare ship; it's only supplied to the most elite of the Pirates, so we know that whoever's tailing us is good at what they do." Adam frowned. "We may have reason to worry about this, but not about force. They may strike at any time. We must be prepared for a stealthy, sudden attack."

The Luminoth stared incredulously. _Obviously, they've never seen a military genius before, _Samus mused. Only Adam could come to so many conclusions so quickly.

"Y-yes, Honored A-Dam…" V-Syl replied shakily. He seemed a bit intimidated. "We will station our best special operations forces in this area tonight. We will be prepared for the Pirate attack."

"Thank you, Guardian." Samus smiled.

"It is small compensation for your actions, A-Ran. I will show you to your room."


End file.
